Of all the questions I field from other parents, the majority of them are about video game recommendations for their kids. Video games are a hard thing. You want it to be action-filled without being violent, and challenging without being frustrating. You want it to be current, but you don’t want to invest in just any popular title. And unless you’re really into the culture, you can get lost among all the similar-pop-art covers in the game aisle at Best Buy. I get that, totally.
With Christmas coming up (I know, in the FAR future, but since the sales are on, you might already be shopping), I thought I’d start working in some suggestions for your Santa bag. Tonight, I’m going to touch on a very new title that I’ve play-tested with six different children spanning age five to eight– all of whom loved it. It’s bright. It’s innovative. It’s sugar and spice and everything nice.
It’s Kirby’s Epic Yarn.
Most of us remember Kirby from his first title almost– wait for it– TWENTY years ago. He was a big pink marshmallow who sucked up everything in his path and spit it back out. (Yep. That’s the one.) The style was pretty typical of early Nintendo:
Also, we had this:
And this:
And eventually this:
While I wasn’t a die-hard Kirby fan– I played a few hours of various titles– I knew enough to decide Kirby was not a graphics game. I mean, the average person could just look at the main hero, who is a circle with eyes, and draw the same conclusion. The whole concept of a big pink dude that inhaled everything wasn’t cutting-edge, either. So when my husband told me a new Kirby game was coming out, and it looked awesome, I was skeptical.
But lo and behold–
HOW CUTE IS THIS GAME, RIGHT?
The idea behind this is completely different than the other titles in the series. Our hero Kirby eats a bad fruit and ends up in Patch Land, where everything is made of yarn and fabric. The worlds there can be patched, zipped, unzipped, peeled, and Kirby himself can swing from buttons and unravel enemies. It’s such a simple, clever concept. Kirby no longer swallows enemies– he lassos them. He can transform his yarned self into things like a dolphin and a robot and a UFO, which never fails to delight my kids and their guests. There’s enough problem-solving to keep the mid-elementary school crowd interested, but the gameplay is easy enough for my kindergartner.
I will say that my seven-and-a-half year old managed to beat the entire game in less than a week; although he (A) did nothing else besides Kirby, homework, and sleep, (B) sped through without getting most of the hidden rewards, and (C) is a hard-core little gamer. Most of his casual gaming buddies took the levels slower, and I could definitely see it stretching out into a few months for most kids– even a year, if it was a couple hours of gameplay a week scenario. Like I said, there are hidden rewards (and levels), so if your child is into collecting items and/or beating every obstacle, there’s quite a bit of replayability.
So, here’s Christmas breakdown for you moms
and dads–
and dads–
COST: $49.99
CONSOLE: Wii
PROS:
Newness: it was released on October 17th, so even by the holidays, it will be a relatively fresh title.
Gorgeous graphics: some of the most charming, quaint, and lovely little visuals in a video game in years.
Safety rating: this title garnered an E, which is safe for everyone, and there’s nothing I’ve seen that would frighten even a very young player.
CONS:
Age range: below five and above twelve are probably out. Not to say that an older child wouldn’t enjoy the title– they may, particularly the look of the fabric world– but they may also find it a little too easy to be truly satisfying.
MY KID’S OPINION:
Eli’s Overall Breakdown: “Fun bosses, cool music, and cool yarn obstacles.”
Eli’s Overall Rating: A